go back

Repeat Stretching of the Voice Box Airway

Rhode Island rates for HCPCS 31529

A scope is passed into the voice box, and the windpipe below it when needed, and a narrowed section of the airway is stretched open with a balloon or dilator. It is used when scarring or swelling has tightened the airway, causing noisy or difficult breathing or a weak voice. This is a repeat stretching, carried out after an earlier one.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Repeat Stretching of the Voice Box Airway cost?

$2,589

Typical total for the visit. In Rhode Island, October 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $2,589 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $191 to the doctor who performs it, and $2,399 to the hospital or surgery center where it takes place. Done somewhere without a facility charge, you pay only the first.

These are rates insurers have negotiated with providers, not the amount a patient is billed. What you owe depends on your plan's deductible and coinsurance. Based on rates published by 4 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$191$182 to $263
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$2,399$1,175 to $3,715

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $2,399 · 10th to 90th $871 to $5,888Professionalmedian $191 · 10th to 90th $162 to $282
$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $2,399professional $191

Distribution of negotiated rates across all payers (price axis is log-scale). Need provider-level prices or 24+ months of history? Contact us.

Rates by insurance carrier

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,089.30
Median
$2,754.23
Typical High
$3,981.07
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$181.97
Median
$181.97
Typical High
$181.97
BCBS Rhode Island
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$141.25
Median
$190.55
Typical High
$331.13
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$588.84
Median
$2,187.76
Typical High
$3,162.28
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$204.17
Median
$263.03
Typical High
$338.84
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$870.96
Median
$2,089.30
Typical High
$7,413.10
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$144.54
Median
$199.53
Typical High
$281.84
5 more rates with less common billing modifiers

A modifier changes what was billed, for example a reduced or repeated service. Each of these modifiers carries under 10% of the published rates for this code. Modifier combinations, and modifiers with fewer than 30 rates for a carrier, are not listed.

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
52 · Reduced service
Typical Low
$91.20
Median
$91.20
Typical High
$91.20
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$36.31
Median
$36.31
Typical High
$36.31
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$134.90
Median
$134.90
Typical High
$134.90
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$26.92
Median
$26.92
Typical High
$26.92
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$18.20
Median
$18.20
Typical High
$18.20

Where Rhode Island sits

The same service costs 13.0 times more in Colorado than in Montana. Every bar is a state, most expensive first. Touch or drag across it to read any state, then open that state for its carriers and full range.

Physician feeFacility fee

Rhode Island· 21st of 51

$2,589

$191 physician + $2,399 facility

CO $6,260MT $480

Median negotiated rate in each state, from every insurer that publishes one. States where no insurer publishes a rate for this service are not shown.